Munakata Shiko, born the son of a poor blacksmith from northern Japan, is considered one of the greatest Japanese artists of the twentieth century. He first became known on the international scene when he won prizes for his woodcuts at the Sao Paulo Biennale (1955) and the Venice Biennale (1956). Munakata revolutionized the concept of the woodblock print, liberating it from the small-scale traditional ukiyo-e format and creating large-size pieces for screens and wall murals.

This volume is the first dual language (English and Japanese) publication to present Munakata’s works in all media and genres—woodcuts, watercolors, oil paintings, calligraphy, and ceramics. Through this comprehensive collection of more than 350 works, all illustrated in full color, can be seen the extraordinary range of styles and techniques used by Japan’s most renowned twentieth-century artist throughout his career, from his woodcuts of the 1930s to his oil paintings of the 1970s. In addition, each of Munakata’s breathtaking and vibrantly colorful creations is individually described in detail. Also included are scholarly essays about Munakata’s life as a woodcut print artist, his calligraphy, the literary sources that inspired many of his prints, and his foray into lithography, as well as a lengthy biography that draws on many of Munakata’s own writings and a chronology that describes each milestone of Munakata’s eventful artistic life.

This catalogue accompanies the first large-scale comprehensive retrospective of Munakata’s work to be held in the United States, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The prints, calligraphies, paintings, and ceramics in the exhibition were borrowed from the holdings of the Munakata Museum in Kamakura, Japan, a foundation established in the artist’s residence and studio after his death. The exhibition and catalogue celebrate the centennial of the artist’s birth.

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